Beyonce's Dressage

We've just been watching the coverage of Beyonce at Glastonbury, and I was surprised at how much she and her backing dancers looked like they were doing some weird kind of human dressage. Perhaps it was the combination of impractical shoes and potentially crotch revealing leotards that made them wary of taking steps that were too large, but whatever their reasons the overall effect was pretty peculiar. I was, however, impressed at her knee sliding action which, contrary to my personal experience, didn't seem to end up in scabby blisters and bruised kneecaps.

Miller Band

We were just surprised by an old episode of Have I Got News for You (I'm assuming Wimbledon is to blame for no other reason than that it's been buggering up the Diagnosis Murder/Murder She Wrote slot all week) which made many references to the Milliband brothers. This re-ignited the fury I felt at the time about the lack of Steve Miller Band jokes in reference to the Labour party leadership election. Admittedly, there is the occasional half-hearted reference to their other brother Steve, and I wasn't expecting long built-up references to any of his lesser known songs, but I was disappointed that nobody took it any further, despite the fact that the world of politics is the perfect backdrop to a line about space cowboys and the pompatus of love.

Chick fix

I just saw an advert for this show which is soon to be aired on Living TV. The trailer included tantalising shots of women about to confess their deepest, darkest secrets to one another interspersed with the same women sitting in front of mirrors, their hair full of curlers and a band of brush wielding, dress draping beauty professionals on hand to do the 'real' work.

It sounds to me like another depressingly shallow comment on how women just need a glass of wine and a new pair of shoes to overcome any hurdle in their lives. Even in the show's description, where you would at least have thought the makers might try to hide their contempt for women, they cannot help but suggest that psychological help and support from close friends is equally likely to be successful as shopping. I am assuming that the main purpose of the show is to get tantalising details of the women's sex lives, personal problems and emotional frailties and broadcast them to an eagerly waiting nation to pore over before trying to distract them from the fact that their personal relationships will inevitably suffer as a result of their revelations by giving them a 'new look'. I'm almost sure I won't be able to bring myself to watch this show, but I hope that at least the adverts get a little less obnoxious as the series continues.